Bubbles!!!

Pin It Raptor turned two last month!

I'm a January baby. V. is also a January baby. I have waited a long time to plan a summer birthday party.

We have a pool and a grill and a swing set. What else do you need?

Answer: cake and a bouncy house.

As awesome as the bouncy house was, we need to talk about the bubble table.

I'm sure this isn't an original idea. But it works.

When Miss V was a baby, we asked for a raised sand table as an amazing sensory bin. Her Papa and Nana sent one to her, and the fun commenced. We used it for water beads, for chopstick practice, and for a dinosaur habitat. This summer, I don't think anything but bubbles will go into it. It was that popular. 

First, we went to the Dollar Tree and I let Miss V pick out whatever we thought would make good bubbles. She came up with all this:

Paper plate holders, a pool noodle we cut up. mega horns, bins, and fly swatters. 

We fill the table with a few big containers of bubbles and go to town. Everyone ends up soaked in bubbles (fair warning given) and everyone plays until the bubbles are gone. 

So this summer, fill your sensory bins or kiddie pools or tupperware with bubbles and go nuts. 

FYI: The fly swatters are fantastic. Wave them in the air or hold them in front of a fan for a million bubbles. 

Glitter Gak

Pin It Both the Homemade "Gak" and Floam were a huge hit (we actually still have and use the floam!), and today after lunch, V. wanted to do "science."

This is the quickest experiment I can pull together (in fact, I was busy working on some science for after nap, but don't tell her that) so I headed to the learning closet to get the stuff.

I am not a fan of loose glitter, but glitter glue is pretty awesome, and we had some. All the recipes for Gak that I've seen specify white glue, but really, how different can they be? A quick Google search showed me that several other mothers had already realized that glitter glue is by far more awesome, and that white glue has no magical properties that make it super Gak-like.

The recipe is the same (1 bottle glue, 1/4 cup water, 1 tsp Borax) , the outcome is more sparkly. I wish we had the light table together, because this would have been even more awesome to do on a lit surface. I did end up putting it back into the borax water because it was stickier than it should have been. I don't think this was the result of different glue, just our impatients.

Glitter, without it invading every crevice of our home. I love it.

Sensory Bin: Snow!

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Yesterday, a Nor'Easter hit, and brought snow! Hooray! V. played in the snow last year, but that was different. She was a year old, and stomped around a bit, tasted it, cried because it was cold, and was over snow. (I built a snow man while she supervised. She was unimpressed.)

This was IT - the First Real Snow. We played in it a bit yesterday, but it wasn't until the sun went down that the real snow started to take hold, and turned into a winter wonderland, not just a dandruff field.

I ran down the stairs when she woke up, ready to play in the snow. Who needs breakfast? It's SNOW. 

Guess what? It was raining. Big, fat, wet, warm drops of rain were coming down, and V. hadn't even gotten out of her crib. I did the only sensible thing I could think of - I dumped out the sensory bin we had going and ran outside (in my pajamas, in the rain, without shoes...) to fill it with snow. I wasn't going to let rain ruin our fun.

I got V. out of bed and showed her the snow. She loved it! We made a snowman, which she insisted have ears and a snow hat. 

The tool bucket for the sensory bin table hasn't changed, but she had no interest in using anything but her hands. It is very packable snow, and she prides herself on making snowballs. That, and she's currently obsessed with all things baby, so making a baby out of snow was far cooler to her than using tools.

Then she remembered that yesterday we busted out her brand-new winter coat (I bought last spring for $12 from The Children's Place. Heck yes.) that I told her was for playing in the snow. Well, she had been playing in the snow and hadn't been wearing her special coat. She refused to play without her "No Kaket."

We wrote a big letter S along with some snow-related s-words on our chalkboard wall. (Oh yeah, that happened while on break, too. Awesome. I highly recommend finding a spare wall and painting it with chalkboard paint. I keep a grocery list there, and suddenly I can make dinner without trying to keep her busy or putting on Elmo.)

I drew the snowman, and let her draw the parts on it. She drew eyes, ears, arms, and was babbling about other things I didn't understand. Then she stood back and proudly reported that it was her uncle, Ben. (Looks just like him, really.)

While all this was going on, I cooked breakfast. I made the snowflake by cracking an egg into a cookie cutter, and it worked surprisingly well. I recommend spraying the cutter first. I didn't think of that until I was poking the egg out and wishing I had. Whoops.

(And the hash browns are from Trader Joe's. Seriously delicious.)

I hope if you have snow right now, you enjoyed it as much as we did!

TWO sensory bins! "Invisible Fish" and shaving cream!

Pin It We've had a busy week! This week our water beads came in the mail (thank you Amazon!) and we dared step foot in the Dollar Tree. (I love that place, and now they have all the "Back to School" and teacher goodies out.)

So we had a long-term and short-term sensory bin.

The former is the water beads.
This is a spin my admirable mom friend put on water beads. Her children named it "invisible fish" and they were spot on.

The trick is to get water and water beads to be about the same hue. The "big things" you see are large, blue glass rocks. The bin is full of blue water beads, and I used food coloring to turn the water equally as blue.

Note to self and you: My friend did this with clear water beads and clear water. Good idea. My millions of beads didn't come with packets of clear, so I dyed the water and, in the end, my child blue. So either use clear beads or don't do this when you need to go anywhere nice or while your child is dressed.

Rockin' the fine motor skills!

V. doesn't have a great "surprised" face, but she was thrilled to find that it was more than a tub of blue water!

I mentioned revamping our tools bucket. That's it on the floor there, and it holds a rolling pin, a set of dry measuring cups, a set of measuring spoons, a set of those slotted bath cups you get a million of at your shower, a big spoon, various gauged strainers and funnels, bowls, "cheater" chop sticks, tweezers, a mini spatula, a liquid measuring cup, some Duplo and Clippo blocks (for textures and to hold fine items, like water beads), cookie cutters, and a toddler knife from her cutlery set. Most of these things I got at the Dollar Tree.

And we do call them tools, same as when we are cooking or gardening. She knows when to use tools or toys, and it makes it easy that I can tell her not to put her toys in the water beads. She would be very sad if she turned HER baby blue. (I would, too.)

Now, on to the next bin.

Dollar Tree has shaving cream. OH heckyes. They had regular ol' Barbisol and then a massive can of BRUTE. I bought the Barbisol because BRUTE said "Fresh BRUTE Scent!" on the side, and I didn't want my kid smelling like BRUTE, whatever that smells like. It is the Dollar Tree...

I put some pool and tub toys in the bottom. Because at the end of this, it was all going to the pool or tub anyway.

That's most of the can. And I'm not going to lie, it was more fun than you think it would be.

The first few grabs, she wasn't sure what to do.

And this is why we did this outside...

Have I mentioned how much I love having a pool? I love having a pool.

But just for more fun later, I took the bin inside and hid it in the tub.

Even more fun! (And it lasted all that time!)

She slowly added water and stirred it, telling me she was cooking. "I Ook!"

And then it all went down the drain.

So very worth $1.

Sensory bin: soap flakes Oh, yes.

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I've seen this all over the internet: put a bar of Ivory soap (it must be Ivory*!) into the microwave and it bubbles into a fantastic mountain of soap.

I am here to tell you that it is all true: the soap does bubble into a fantastic mountain, the mountain comes out dry, and it is all terribly fun to watch.  Plus, the clean-up is minimal.


You start with a bar of Ivory soap.

I love the smell of Ivory soap. Since it floats, it is the soap we used in the lake.  To me, it smells like part of summer.  I thought I'd let my child experience one of the smells of my childhood summer.

I could have stopped her, but I knew this wouldn't go far.
Actions and consequences lesson in 3... 2...1...

There it is.

She's just discovered this week that she can use her teeth this way.
I'm so proud!

After your kid is done making observations about the bar of soap, set the microwave timer for 2-3 minutes.  This small bar took about 2 minutes with frequent stopping.
A great question to ask here is "What do you predict will happen to the bar of soap if we heat it in the microwave?"

For about 20 seconds, the answer is nothing.

Then...

Kablam!  Soap cloud!  Let the kids oooh and ahh over it while it gets gigantic.  Then stop the microwave and ask them how they think it will feel.  (It looks like it should feel like bubble bath.  V. called it "bubbles" the whole time we were doing this.)

 Guess what?!  It is dry!  And fluffy!  And brittle!

I pulled the "cloud" off the chunk of soap every time it filled the microwave.  I put the cloud into a bowl, and kept microwaving the chunk.  (Careful!  The chunk will be hot.)

It took about 2 minutes on the timer, and with all the stopping and playing, about 6 minutes.

Then we played with the cloud.

Guess what, Mom?  It tastes the same.

Make more observations.  Then make soap flakes.

It is so much fun to crunch up!

Now I have a bar's worth of soap flakes.  I'm going to put it in a bin tomorrow and add some water.  Once she has her fun, I'll make homemade handsoap.  (And if that works, I'm going to try it with Dr. Bronner's Fancypants Soap next!)



*Ivory soap is whipped with air.  That is why it floats.  It is also why it "bubbles" out - the air pockets inside get hot and expand.  If you are doing this with kids old enough to compare and contrast, try other air-filled, porous things, like marshmallows or Peeps!

Sensory bin: Homemade "gak"

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I'm going to start off with two disclaimers: 

1 - this is not the Nickelodeon Gak you remember destroying your parents' house with in the early 90's.  It is still fun, and less messy.

2 - this recipe contains Borax.  If you are worried about using borax, read this site and make an informed decision.  That said, the amount used in this recipe is very little, and most of it gets poured off.

Now, on to the fun.

You will need:

4 oz of white glue (think Elmer's - I'm sure non-Elmer's would work, too.)

1/4 c. water

1 tsp Borax (available in detergent aisles.  You'll get a giant box.  Use it in your laundry.)

Pour the glue into a medium bowl.  If you want to add in food coloring, add it to the glue now.  

In a small bowl, dissolve the borax in the water.  

Pour the water over the glue slowly, stirring constantly.  You may not add all the water. 

Here is where it gets really fun.  You can control the consistency of your gak.  Squeeze the glue-pile-becoming-gak to make sure you get it all mixed.  If you like the consistency, stop adding water and remove what you have from the bowl.  If you want it more rubbery and firm, keep pouring and kneeding it in the water.  I, being more impatient than my child, poured all the water out at once, then lifted the mass out of the bowl.  It oozed everywhere (there was a glue bubble inside the mass) and I had to scrape it up into the bowl again.  Using a little of the bowl water, I cleaned up the rest (more like turning it into rubber) and tried the experiment again the way the instructions said to.  Following directions 101.

Now, if you want to get really science-y with your kids, pour the glue (or have them squirt it!) into the water after making a "control" batch.  Compare the results.  (I'm not going to tell you what happens!  But it is cool.)

Bunny also likes gak.

It bounces!

If you make yours very rubbery, it makes an amazing bouncy ball.  V. also enjoyed practicing using her toddler knife on the gak, and cutting shapes with cookie cutters.  It is also fun to flatten and snap apart.  

Sadly, due to all the bouncing, our gak got funky.  We'll be making more of this soon!  It is very fun, and if you don't chuck it into every corner of the dog's cage, it will keep indefinitely.  

PS - the ball you see above is one batch.  Plan accordingly, because it was difficult enough for the two of us to share!  If you have more than one child, you're going to want to plan a batch for each.  And maybe one for yourself.

Sensory bin: Moon Sand

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I've seen recipes everywhere for home made moon sand.  I made a mess with moon sand as a kid.  Ever think no wonder my parents were so angry when I... I could finish that sentence with me putting moon sand in/on something at least 10 times.  Why did they keep giving it to me?  I will say that they gave me Gak exactly once.  Then I had to trade Pogs to get more Gak from my friends.

Oh man, I'm old.  And if you understood or related to that last sentence, so are you.


You can understand why I was a bit hesitant to make some for my child.  But really, it just made me vigilant.  Sorry, kid.  You won't be plastering the tv in moon sand today.

Like I said, I've stumbled upon several recipes.
I started with one and toyed with it until I got the moon sand to the consistency of wet cement.  It has dried out considerably, but the result was oobleck-esque sand.

Ingredients 

4 cups play sand, sifted.  (ours isn't a particularly nice color.  If you have the lighter, finer stuff, you can dye it.)

2 cups corn starch

1.5 cups water

I added a sprinkle of glitter, but it was covered in gook by the end, and didn't make a difference.

Whisk the water and corn starch together in your bin.

Add in the sand about 1/3 at a time and mix well with your (or your kid's) hands.

This moon sand was very resistant, and it surprised her how hard she had to press to make an imprint.

 Because I made this a little more watery than regular moon sand, it had the qualities of a suspension. When rolled or pressed, it was a solid, but would liquify if you held it still.  Now that it has dried out a bit, it is more like wet beach sand.  (Adding more water would bring it back to suspension.)

Guess what?  It doesn't taste good.  If my child had any concept of cause and effect, she'd have regretted eating it the next day, when I had to change her "beachy" diaper.

It does not bounce.  But I'm glad she is still repeating the drop experiment!
Note to self - next bin should bounce.  (Actually, dried beans bounce surprisingly high...)

Sensory bins: Ice, ice, baby.

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I planned on making the Glory, Glory, Hallelujah dessert durring nap time.

Of course, nap time did not go as planned that day, and I had a toddler who wanted nothing more than to hang off my bones.  I had just removed the beans sensory bin, and needed something for her - fast.

It was 90 degrees out.  I dumped half the ice we had in the freezer into the bin and called it a day.

She LOVED it.  The puppy was also very appreciative when I took the used bin and put it in her bowl - puppy loves ice cubes.  This turned out to be perfect for a hot day and a great solution to a quick bin.  (I'll post what is in our bin now, soon, and you'll see why I didn't want to mix it before making dessert. The "kiddie" corner of the kitchen is a hot mess currently.)

Ice was so popular, I thought about turning it into art.  (I keep meaning to make colored ice cubes for her kiddie pool or the tub... I just never get to it.)

This was fast and fun.  Take any ice cube tray (the puzzle pieces are from Ikea) and put a dollop of paint into each.  

 Mix with water and freeze.

I love that they link together.  At this point I wished I had made both trays, just so I could play with a puzzle set. (I know.  My inner nerd is showing.)

And she painted.  Wouldn't you know, it came out looking just like a water color painting!

Sensory TABLE: Passover

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When I thought of what to put in the sensory bin for Passover, I started with a list of plagues.  Not the best places to start.  Then I thought of crushed matzoh.  Not only is matzoh expensive, I don't want my 14-month-old eating what is in the bin or throwing matzoh all around.  

Now, if you know anything of Moses, the country of Egypt, or Exodus, you know that I overthought this one.  The obvious thing is sand.  (Hello.)

Then, something wonderful, miraculous!, happened. My father sent V. a sand table.  The Step 2 sand table we put on our Amazon registry a million years ago.  It is shallow and raised and The Perfect Sensory Table.  This means I didn't need to put a bin of sand in my kitchen.  Double win.

I filled the table with sand and let V. just try it out for a little while.  Then I hid some "plague" toys in the sand - beasts (they look awfully friendly...), frogs, and bugs (couldn't find just locust).  The other pieces are all sand/sensory bin toys, like sifters and shovels.

She woke up from nap late, so she doesn't know about the hidden things yet.  Tomorrow, she's in for a surprise!

Since it took her so long to discover I had buried things in past bins, I thought I'd just lightly cover some of the bugs, as a hint.